Travel – Hikes – Road Trips

Trails

Noordhoek Beach is over 8 km long. At one end is Chapman’s Peak, and at the other, the Slangkop Lighthouse.

The town of Noordhoek can be accessed either from the scenic coastal road, Chapman’s Peak Drive, which leads out of Hout Bay or via the mountain road Ou Kaapse Weg, which cuts through Silvermine Nature Reserve, or past Cape Point Nature Reserve.

This walk will take about 40 minutes each way. From the parking lot on the Chapman’s Peak side of the beach, simply follow the boardwalk down to the sand and turn left. Towards the Kommetjie side of the beach you’ll find the shipwreck lying high and dry.

We started and ended our hike at the Slangkop Lighthouse parking lot outside the town of Kommetjie. We followed the boardwalk from there and then walked all along the beach to the Kakapo Shipwreck. Here we had a picnic before heading back. It is an easy almost 10km walk.

There are toilets on Noordhoek Beach and two streams to cross, so you might get your feet/shoes wet, depending on the time of year.

Other than the cold water, this beach is amazing, and is home to horses, dogs, walkers, runners, sea birds and surfers.

The Slangkop Lighthouse is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse along South African coastline. Construction was due to be completed in 1914 and a brass sign was commissioned for this date, but due to the First World War the lighthouse wasn’t completed until 1919, although definitely in use before that date. The lighthouse became fully automated in 1979, but is still one of the few lighthouses in the world to be manned by a lighthouse-keeper. Visiting hours with a minimal entrance fee: – Monday to Friday 10.00 am to 3.00 pm, with an half hour break between 12.00 and 12.30 pm. Closed over weekends and public holidays. In May 1900, a steamship, named the Kakapo, (after a parrot found in New Zealand), was on her maiden voyage from Wales to Australia. After leaving Table Bay Harbour a north westerly gale had picked up and with visibility impaired by strong winds and rain, the captain mistook Chapman’s Peak for Cape Point, and the Kakapo ran ashore on Noordhoek Beach. No lives were lost as the crew of twenty managed to scramble ashore. All attempts to pull the vessel off the beach failed. Today all that is left of the Kakapo are its boilers and what is left of her hull poking up through the sand.

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A beautiful hike through the forest to view the Big Four Mountain and caves beneath the snow.

Location: North Cascades – Mountain Loop Highway

Lengh: 2.2 miles, round-trip

Difficulty: Easy

Driving directions :

From 1-5 in Everett, take exit 194 for Snohomish /Wenatchee, then take exit 204 for Lake Stevens. Turn left after 2 miles onto highway 9/9N Granite Falls, then onto Quarry Road. At the stop sign turn left onto the Mountain Loop Highway. Continue until you get to a signpost for the Ice Caves Trailhead. Here you will find a parking lot and toilets, as well as a self service pay station for a Northwest Forest Pass, which is required for the trail.

Start at the parking lot and follow the the pathway through the woods.

There is a aluminium bridge over the Stillaguamish River. The bridge was built to withstand flooding.

In a few steps you will cross Ice Creek, just before it flows into the Stillaguamish.

The path continues on a gentle upward grade through the forest.

Continuing on, the trail breaks out into an open meadow. Here you have a good view of the Big Four Mountain, ice caves and waterfalls.

The trail ends in a circle of rocks perfect for admiring the caves, mountain and waterfalls.

Beautiful flowers to admire along the way 🌻🌼🌸

Don’t go near the caves, it is very dangerous. People have been killed here.

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Hiking in a scenic environment with unique rock formations.

Paarl is named after its 3 unusual granite rocks – Paarl, Bretagne and Gordon Rocks – which date back more than 500 million years – the second largest granite outcrop in the world.

In 1657 Abraham Gabemma set out inland from Cape Town to search for new meat resources. It was after a rainstorm when he saw a mountain in the distance, with a giant granite rock which glistened like a wet pearl in the sun. He named the mountain “Peerleberg” (Pearl Mountain), which later became Paarl Mountain and the town that evolved at its base was named Paarl.

The town of Paarl is about 60 km from central Cape Town along the N1 Highway. Take the Paarl Main Road turnoff from the N1 (exit 55 for R45), continue for about 1,5 km and turn left onto Jan Phillips Mountain Drive, a gravel road. The road was opened in 1928 and was built by Jan Philips, a well-known wagon builder. Follow the road up the mountain until a T-junction, where one turns right towards the Millwater (Meulwater) Wild Flower Garden and picnic site. You can park your car here and start exploring. No entrance fee from here.

There is a number of trails criss crossing the reserve, ranging from 2.5 up to 10km. The most impressive is the hike up Bretagne rock, with chains to help you along. You can start your hike up the hill from the toilets in the braai area and follow the white painted foot prints. It should take you about 2 hours out and back, depending on how much exploring you do. Do wear shoes with a good grip and a warm jacket. It could be very windy on top of the granite outcrops. Bring water and snacks when entering from Meulwater as there is no shop.

We started our hike through the magical wild flower garden. The garden was established just before World War II, by the Paarl Beautifying Society.

After a rather steep walk we came to a gate and Jeep track which we followed for about 4 km, with proteas and fynbos to admire.

At the Paarl Rock view point, we headed towards Bretagne and Gordon Rocks. Bretagne Rock looked very intimidating, but I made it to the top with the help of chains. Impressive 360 degree views from here. We even saw Table Mountain. And 2 of the 3 dams, Nantes and Bethel, which form part of a historic water purification system, supplying water to the town of Paarl since the 1800’s. And it was picnic time!!

Gordon’s Rock is for the serious rock climbers!

After a slow decent we went to Paarl Rock.

Here the old cannon which was used to signal the arrival of ships in Table Bay harbour, can still be seen. This particular cannon was stationed on a lookout point on the western side of Paarl Mountain. Some time after the Battle of Blaauwberg (1806) the cannon was removed, and dragged with a team of oxen to its present position on Paarl Rock.